::inspiring Mondays::

Monday. Yet another Monday. I wake up less tired than I will be by the end of the week, so I guess Mondays are good like that; you're as fresh as you'll ever be for that week! The room felt chilly but the hot shower made up for it. Inventor of hot showers, LMJ sends you her love!

Autumn is arriving to the UK and I like it. Autumn is such a beautiful season, with its warm colours and Sunday afternoons filled with tea and cake, that the thought is enough to make this Joey happy. Autumn is also a time of new beginnings! Since the schools days, or 18 years of my life, Autumn was when it all began again and the feeling stuck. And how not to like new beginnings? The promise, the little nervousness about the unexpected, but ultimately the excitement of starting afresh and moving on. Yep, let it shine through on LMJ!

:: lovely girly Saturday around London.

:: walking in and around Kensington Palace. wonderful!

:: randomly finding Muriel's Kitchen and its ever so yummy food, in such a cosy atmosphere!

:: Peggy Porschen tea room and its divine red velvet cake!, in a beautifully set tea room.

:: Little Brother's random texts and pictures of his day.

:: Whatsapp. Get it! Now!

:: plant hospital. and one happier peace lily willing to have a life rather than fight for one constantly.

:: sleep. a good 10 hour straight happy sleep.

:: a much needed massage.

:: projects. prioritising projects and working out how to get things done.

:: indian takeaway on a cold evening.

:: running after work. feels soooooo good!

This was also an epiphany Monday... but more on that on another day :)

Hope you had a lovely day and a wonderful beginning to the week.

::inspiring Mondays::

 

I went home. It was lovely and warm and sunny and lovely. Did I say lovely? I had Little Brother time and parents time. I met the newest baby in the family. I saw one of my cousins get married and overwhelm us all with happiness and joy. I sunbathed in beautiful beaches and swam in the sea. I ate grilled sardines and it was delicious. I drank Portuguese wine, especially my favourite Planalto. I ate bread from my favourite bakery and croissants from my other favourite bakery. I had a pastel de Belém. I wore flip-flops and pretty dresses. I had some quality time in Hotel Rural Casas Novas and indulged in the countryside's slow paced good food lifestyle. Do you get a picture of awesomeness? It was pretty much it!

Then I came back. To reality, to where bits of my life are, to a place I should call home but it is oh so hard just after I'm back from the real-non-real home. As always, insert LMJ's friends to the rescue and life felt a little bit less boo. The sunshine we had all of last week also helped with the hard return. And so it is I've settled back into my real world and I've finally put some photos on display in my room and I feel cosy again here.

My list this Monday is quite enormous. I'm happy, I feel happy, I have things I'm grateful for, things to keep me warm inside, things to look forward to, things that make me smile for no apparent reason, and so many pictures to look at that I need coffee and sunday mornings plenty.

:: cousin's wedding. pure happiness!

:: baby cousin-nephew. LMJ may be getting broody, but tell no one; that little one is adorable!

:: family time. there are times when you really feel it, you know, that thing of family warmth and knowing you're never alone.

:: a little letter with a little drawing from my 7-year old cousin-nephew. a little piece of happiness and heart sunshine on a paper. on my wall already.

:: Paralympics. I saw Oscar Pistorius run the 100m T44 final... live! I was there when the crowd shouted for Jonnie Peacock and saw him win. What an atmosphere!

:: the UK. sometimes, being part of this nation makes me smile. seeing the Paralympics is one of those times; I'm so proud of the great British people who embraced foreign athletes and the Paralympians and made everyone feel welcome and part of something great!

:: summer time.

:: homemade bread.

:: homemade soup.

:: Oxford Open Doors.

:: Monday office silliness. some of it courtesy of this (pretty reliable) erratic gentleman!

:: a cooking project with a lovely lady!

:: my life!

It rained today. I laughed. Now I'm truly back and you know what? It's not so bad... if you let be good... if I let it be good ;)

::inspiring Mondays::

I'm almost home and that is what makes this week so brilliant. That and everything else! 

This feel good feeling really made it easier to survive some minor episodes of today... I missed my train by three minutes. Yep, three! I was on the bus and every.single.thing.that.could.delay.the.bugger.did! So I missed the train. Next train: 1h11m later! Oxford station, you and I know each other well! Leaving work, delayed train. Just seven minutes. And then 10 more sitting in full view of Oxford station but unable to reach it. On a train with no open windows because it has air conditioned... except it didn't. One boiling Joey coming right out! Ta mucho FGW!

Yet, none of this is of any importance for when I get home I can eat a peach in the garden and continue knitting the mini baby cardi I'm doing for baby cousin-nephew... it looks so adorable! I envisage some baby squeezing going on. Gently, of course!

:: SUMMER!
:: going home at the end of the week. for ten days! ♥
:: sunbathing in the garden! Yay!
:: sardines. Cornish sardines!
:: a cooking adventure... more to come here! ♥
:: homemade pizza bake-off. Expect Nicky to blog about it.
:: cat sitting with JJ.
:: flip-flops. yellow flip-flops.
:: vinho verde.
:: knitting.
:: food photography!

How was your start to the week? Dramatic but fun? Just fun? Sunny? Have a lovely week whatever the start :)

::inspiring Mondays::

 

The sun is barely shining today, but I still have this feel good feeling one has when looking at yellow. If I had to pick a colour for my life, I'd say yellow. I'm a lover of colour in general, I love red (the majority of my accessories are red, like my iPhone cover) and orange. And now green. Yet it is yellow that makes me skip a beat in pure happiness when all else fails.

It's been almost a week since my birthday and all I have to say is... birthdays rock! There were people and smiles and laughter and food and presents, for almost a week, quite remarkable! And lots of yellow! I loved it all!

:: my birthday!
:: yellow {HEART}
:: my family and friends.
:: cake. cakes. cakes.
:: Old Trafford.
:: much needed back massage. bliss!
:: the iPhone. Little Brother and I text for free. yay!
:: photography.
:: my flatmates. who just smile when I've setup a mini photography studio in the kitchen.
:: sunshine!
:: adding to my British education by going to the Proms... tonight!
:: picnics. I love it!
:: bowling. such good fun.
:: lemon drizzle cake.
:: hugs.
:: hum... yellow! Hahahaha

How's this Monday going for you? I wish you a lovely start to the week, preferably with some sunshine.

the story of a birthday

I cannot begin to explain to you how AWESOME my birthday was. Proper kid awesome, with eyes wide open in amazement and smiles filled with happiness. Some days just work, you know, and I have been lucky enough to have one of those days fall on my birthday.

My friends, people, my friends are something else. I'm not speechless often, but looking at how unbelievebly amazing my day was, I'm left unable to properly articulate how I feel. Happy sums it up, but it's only just the tip of the iceberg. And of course there's also my family and the brilliant LMrJ. I'm pinching myself still...!

As promised, my day in images...

 

::inspiring Mondays::

 

This Monday is my last day as a 31 year old woman. Tomorrow I turn 32 and I'm already excited about it. The plan is to go to Manchester and... breathe now... watch a match at Old Trafford, a British football cathedral. The cherry on top of the cake is that we're watching one of the semi-finals of the Olympics football (not Brazil, but hey... at Old Trafford I'd watch dead cockroaches sing).

I love celebrating my birthday. As a kid growing up in Portugal, having an August birthday is not the best thing ever, as most of the country goes away on holiday and you're left with a few family members to have cake with, if you're lucky. Fortunately, I had a few cousins and I could still play around, but nothing spectacular. Having survived this somewhat traumatic childhood, I am now a birthday celebration addict! Give me cake and candles, anytime! Or every year, that will do!

:: one day to my birthday!

:: early morning run. how I love it! it's good to be back!

:: the Olympics. still amazing!

:: where were you on the 9.64 seconds Usain Bolt took to become an even greater sports legend? I didn't even blink!

:: enjoying the silence.

:: photography.

:: playing around photographing in the kitchen.

:: settling into my new house.

:: artist friends. bespoke unique jewellery pieces for every event I attend. Yep!

:: lovely saturday lunch and chats with said friend.

:: Friday pub. I can laugh!

:: a very chilled Sunday, with some knitting... green cardigan almost done!

:: homemade bread. it's the simple things, really, isn't it?

In my dreams, I would like to share my birthday with you by preparing a post on my day. Let's make it a Monday resolution then! Have a lovely start to the week and smile :)

Global kitchen

LMJ enjoys eating, especially ice cream and Mum's food and Portuguese cuisine and homemade cakes and muffins and... yes, you get the idea. It also happens, LMJ enjoys cooking.

Time for the kitchen and pots and pans is often short, especially considering my other interests, so what better way to make the time than to create dishes to be photographed? And then eaten, of course? To participate in a food blog!

Eva and I are starting a bilingual food blog, in Spanish and English. How cool is that? Very, I think!

The blog is called Cocina Global, or Global Kitchen and it aims to bring together our love of food and photography. 

How will it work? Well, at the start of the month, we'll select an ingredient; during the month, we will share little snippets of information and fun facts about said ingredient, such as its nutritional value, main producers,... and the list goes on. Finally at the end of the month, we will show you what recipe each of us has cooked with it, illustrated with what we hope will be yummy looking photos! In a perfect world, you'll be sending us your photos too, with or without recipes.

Amidst the food and the food photography, you can expect to find a little bit of silliness, with a good example on our profile photos. Above all, we are hoping to have a great time, in the kitchen and out! It would be great to see you over there!